Author Topic: Project: Roguelike Renaissance  (Read 173923 times)

getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #60 on: August 28, 2009, 07:13:01 PM »
Backlog nearly dead, crash coursing seems to have wound up hitting the major snag I was worried about...plan B will be organized and implemented soonishI hope,  currently going insane at my PC acting up on me lately (mouse in particular which is pretty important on a desktop)---hoping to get that resolved so I don't have constant issues anymore.

Plan of following actions is to hit a playtesting streak on S.C.O.U.R.G.E. when all is resolved while getting back to the commitment to LambdaRogue.  From there, outside of other stuff manifesting, more long-term oriented efforts will go towards reviving up/learning to manipulate the long overdue RAGe Engine for the good of us all and trying to successfully dive headfirst into Python 3.x so as to prepare for the works I aim to wreak upon Stardock's upcoming Elemental: War of Magic game.  Also, of interesting note as I only recently discovered it as the devs haven't posted here in awhile, Legerdemain is looking to at last have a graphical version existing as of early June for any prospective artists as per their homepage.  I'm hoping they find one as otherwise it looks to be awhile yet before I can manage to bang out any art assets(even moreso with this crazy mouse problem on top of my general system weakness and cooperation with programs).  But hey, even if it takes months from now, I'll do it if it comes down to it as I would LIKE to play the game I bought w/ Guide Journal all those months ago  ;)

Also, once the new PC hits or possibly before depending on how experiments go, I aim to somehow work in a series of Let's Roguelike video excusions on my vacant youtube channel or some such in a style somewhat like the various Let's Play series in order to get things more lively/known across the vast amount of worthy things to pay attention to new and old.  (My biggest hope is some kind souls will respond in kind and have something similar out there for the ASCII ones unless I wake up one day and my brain is able to comprehend them outside Triangle Wizard.)
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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #61 on: August 30, 2009, 05:19:15 AM »
First, I've got to say you're very dedicated. When you first proposed this, I wasn't sure if you understood how much work what you're doing is. But you've been at it now for three months, as dedicated as ever. So, good work! :D That's way more work dedication than I usually have.

Anyway, have you considered using Mantis or another similar issue management system to organize the work that you plan on doing? I mention it because slashie seems to find it quite productive to say the least.

I think the Let's Play a Roguelike videos are really awesome. The only thing I usually don't like about roguelike videos on youtube is that they move so slow. But that's pretty minor. I'd love to see more of those videos.

In terms of programming, don't give up on C/C++. You probably need better books. This is my personal favorite, but not the easiest to learn from. The definitive book on C is probably this one. MSVC can be frustrating, gcc and g++ adhere to the standards much better so if you're having problems with that you could install Linux to a flash drive or CD and boot into it to use gcc and g++. Many roguelikes are written in Linux natively. I would recommend Ubuntu. I think Linux is much more sane to program for in general, but that's just my taste.

If C/C++ is just too much, you could try Pascal. Many roguelikes have been written in pascal, including some versions of the original Rogue. Java is also a popular roguelike language and much more forgiving than C or C++. Slashie even has a whole engine for Java roguelikes.

Anyway, good luck and keep up the amazing work!

getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #62 on: August 30, 2009, 01:42:13 PM »
Thanks for the kind words.  In the grand scheme of things though, I'm strongly banking on the next 3 months being ones I acquire more actual skills to bring to arms versus mainly research in game design concepts and mass organizing of this 3(Not that the latter 2 bits haven't been important in their own right...game design concept pondering will be an ongoing thing all the way I reckon).

-This Mantis thingie looks interesting---especially since I'd never heard of it or anything like it!  I can envision a future when this somewhat replaces(Well...supplements...) just typing everything on notepad then emailing it to myself or some such as I'd figured prior.  Bookmarked!  Definitely, if you have any other links to similar things feel free to dispel my ignorance...I'm sure there are any number of handy things out there I've not the slightest exposure to.

-As I mention in the RGRD topic the other day that seems to have spun out of control, I've also some musings for MANY good practices that could be adopted using the streaming sites gaining pep nowadays...like Livestream I think is a biggie from NeoGAF's gaming board.  If it could be configured properly, not only could people watch and comment on a Live playthrough with Tile versions or otherwise unlike Crawl's online ASCII spectating, but even more importantly in my mind, it could be used to do Live coding, animating, tiling, sound/music composition, etc in the form of workshops or being able to observe ongoing development of something and then contribute live without the barriers of OS, installs, time to muck around with, and so on.  The potential utility value is huge and something I will surely need to look into so that things can work better for what I do and other people down the line as well.

-LOL, at this rate I couldn't give up on C++, at least even if I wanted to, since I already staked out my claim on RAGe and C++ lib is what powers the awesome thing.  As to needing better books, currently, I have NO books but a mass assortment of links to online ones, tutorials, and guides.  In my mind, I'd like to think I'll stand a better chance of purposefully decoding C++ so as to understand and visibly manipulate/get immediate feedback from the RAGe engine moreso than aimlessly typing at it to no specific end.  The engine is pretty much unrestricted from what I can tell in large part and the manual explains the gist of a fair bit...but there's nothing else online with it so I might as well be rigging up something largely from scratch.  When the time comes, I'm going to need to draft some people around here and over on Shrapnel to really see what's what and what needs/could need doing.  You know the world is a crazy place when I of all people technically wind up on what would count as the cutting edge of engine manipulation since it is 1. Newish 2. Unknown as there's never been a concerted effort in the slightest on stacking it up against the rest.

-I know nothing of Linux and don't really have much in the way of links to boot, but obviously that'll have to change.  Pascal and Java are on the list as well for different projects in the big one...though Java has a somewhat loftier place as another project I look to help out in some respects when I can is JavaClassicRPG

http://jcrpg.blogspot.com/

As to Plan B, while I never said it was a good plan, here's what it amounts to:

Yet again organize all my bookmarks at all relevant to game design and the related skillset---only this time in the form of a forum post on a site or so where I know there's knowledgeable folk afoot.  Within this Gigantic post, which will hopefully prove to be very helpful to any other people interested in getting into game development, I will solicit people to help me "fill in the gaps" on the topics where I'm missing something(I've nothing on procedual generation), or everything(I'm POSITIVE there are magic tricks to learn/steal from the Demoscene people for Roguelikes and games in general along with the likes of that kkreiger project), as well as if there are any books they see as essential whose contents do not happen to be covered properly within the links to free online readings and such---goal being to minimize book buys overall as I'm broke and such though the plan is to have another round at it once I get a proper new PC sometime after October this year with the funds I'll hopefully have left after getting a friend to assemble a solid one.

Once they've confirmed additions or things of that nature...well...then there's nothing left by my own mad rush at the lot of main actors at the onset(Possibly in the form of this Livesteam dealie since this would likely be one of those 10+ hours things everytime/everydayish).  If I get stuck on RAGe/Python 3.x/Squirrel/etc, then jump to a Tiling program, if stuck on said Tiling program, immediately jump to a Sound one, and so on until I come back around to the original offender or hit a breakthrough streak on one of the many that I hope to click with.  Something akin to ruthless, savage pragmatism is the general notion.  Besides, this should help prevent a common roadblock I've head people have in terms of getting stuck on "something" then the whole thing goes up in smoke at agonizing on it---in that I'll hop to the next thing that's related as soon as things go horribly wrong before it gets under my skin too much, well, unless I wind up stuck on everything.   :D

Otherwise, another Darkhorse engine candidate has entered my frame of mind to compete with RAGe's C++ lib mystery and Elemental's Python monstrosity in terms of Roguelikes and figuring good stuff in general---Preditor!   I love this video so much...this kind of video quality would be my dream on streaming or youtube, at leas the HD one.

http://www.torchlightgame.com/developerblogs/2009/08/28/preditor-scripting-101-part-1-of-3/
« Last Edit: August 30, 2009, 01:51:16 PM by getter77 »
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getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #63 on: September 08, 2009, 09:12:21 PM »
Plans still about where they left off, still organizing and backlogging---the biggest issue being my mouse woes the same, if not worse, than before.  Of course, when I had somebody over to look at it proper, it picked that half hour window to not mess up a single time so as to drag this whole mess out further.  The lesson is clear to me...a mouse is damn important to general PC usage but I will surely bear in mind a straight keyboard control scheme for as many future projects of mine as possible.   >:(

Still, so as to not lose the time on all fronts, I've been on a researching and..."evaluatiing" binge via internet and youtube in terms of game design and such.  Resources also got a nice uptick within the last day or so as somebody thought wise to finally start a subreddit on Reddit for free and open(for the most part, ones that used to be physical books that either went out of print or the authors took a mind to it) computer science and such books...as well as eventual linkings to other such things as well---so I suspect much of that stands to come in handy at some point.  In particular, I'm hoping one on reverse engineering and deciphering software will be mightily potent should I wind up backed into corners I think I might in regards to some projects...
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getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #64 on: September 24, 2009, 02:48:34 PM »
Conditions persist on the technical front, as do they on the game research and rampant bookmarking of information fronts...as do they on the not so good familial front.

I continue to more and more consider the notion of deconstructing other games off the beaten path so as to consider elements they possess for Roguelike fodder to be a good one as I keep researching and viewing the gist of different games over the years.
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getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #65 on: October 03, 2009, 03:22:05 PM »
:does a cautiously happy jig:  Looks very likely the problem was with the mouse and not the PC outright.  $10 later a new mouse will hopefully be on the way soon and, circumstances willing, handed off to my by my good friend by the end of the coming week since the world continues to discriminate against people with PO BOXES for some insane reason.

Meantime, keep banging away on game studies and again trimming the backlog that has creeped up throughout all these weeks.  With some luck for peace of mind, I hope to actually play a videogame of some sort again in the not distant future...as it has been quite awhile now.
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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #66 on: October 10, 2009, 01:02:05 PM »
FREEEEEDOMMMMMM!  Finally got and tried out my new mouse this morning, and aside from a bright blue glow that'll take some getting used to and probably scare my cats, it seems to work very well if a tad sensitive.  Which means it is time to shift focus off the research angle once more and dive back headfirst into things---though I have found some nifty stuff in the meantime both programming and game design related.  Time to sleep less!   8)
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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #67 on: October 12, 2009, 10:30:37 AM »
Give me your sleep, I need it! Heheheheheh ;)

G'luck with the new mouse mate, glad it's worked out. Keep us posted :)
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getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #68 on: October 14, 2009, 01:46:47 AM »
TANGENTIAL PROGRESS TOMORROW I hope!  Specifically, I'll take on the challenge to become a collection of various embodied and disembodied voices for jCRPG  http://jcrpg.blogspot.com/   Will try to help out with whatever I can after/alongside that as well that my still technically unskillful head can rattle loose while aiming to work quickly.  It would appear a new public release version is on the near horizon so I trust Temple folk will give the game a shot and perhaps try to peg all that I will wind up as in the Land of Audio.
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getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #69 on: October 15, 2009, 07:19:40 PM »
Gah, "miffed" at how things went overall with a partial Version 1 of the audio recordings and today I got bashed in the head by a chandelier amidst this dreary, rainy weather.  While an ice pack helped the latter, DO let me know if you've got something better than blasted Windows Audio Recorder on the former---I know my bad mic is insurmountable in some respects but there has to be a better software solution.
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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #70 on: October 15, 2009, 07:23:13 PM »
Gah, "miffed" at how things went overall with a partial Version 1 of the audio recordings and today I got bashed in the head by a chandelier amidst this dreary, rainy weather.
Elig, add chandeliers to DreamHack! If you ever add creature descriptions, you should quote getter77, Dungeon-Crawl style.

getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #71 on: October 15, 2009, 11:22:49 PM »
Gah, "miffed" at how things went overall with a partial Version 1 of the audio recordings and today I got bashed in the head by a chandelier amidst this dreary, rainy weather.
Elig, add chandeliers to DreamHack! If you ever add creature descriptions, you should quote getter77, Dungeon-Crawl style.

Ha, I needed the laugh today!  Thanks Fenrir.

Otherwise, plan on the audio front seems to be a battle of wills and positioning with the mic and cracking open Audacity at long last to see what's up.  Still hoping to wrap up this sound work as promptly as I can.  Though as a long shot, if afterwards I can also come to some grips with some manner of music software in time...
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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #72 on: October 16, 2009, 12:01:30 AM »
Gah, "miffed" at how things went overall with a partial Version 1 of the audio recordings and today I got bashed in the head by a chandelier amidst this dreary, rainy weather.
Elig, add chandeliers to DreamHack! If you ever add creature descriptions, you should quote getter77, Dungeon-Crawl style.
Consider it done! :D

getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #73 on: October 16, 2009, 01:12:53 AM »
Gah, "miffed" at how things went overall with a partial Version 1 of the audio recordings and today I got bashed in the head by a chandelier amidst this dreary, rainy weather.
Elig, add chandeliers to DreamHack! If you ever add creature descriptions, you should quote getter77, Dungeon-Crawl style.
Consider it done! :D

LOL, remember to use my real name with any potential quote!   8)
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getter77

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Re: Project: Roguelike Renaissance
« Reply #74 on: October 16, 2009, 09:47:41 PM »
SUCCESS!  Wit and courage hath served me well, for I've roughly gained a new skill this day.  Next batch of recordings based upon my 2 hour straight fight with Audacity and my mic turned out so well there will apparently be no need for a V2 period.  Will V2 some of the ones from yesterday to see what's what and do the sfx and remaining packs that hopefully go as well this weekend.  YES!   8)

If anybody ever decides to reach out to the vision impaired with a Roguelike I call dibs on narration and such.  :thumbs up:

In the grand scheme, since starting, I do believe this counts as the first new skill I've attained rough competence in---that's big!  If I had to guess, next would be music...then a tossup between art and programming----all depending on which first manifests an idiot proof learning situation for me.

This made my day today.   ;D
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